A new 4 GB or larger USB flash drive or SD card or used drive/card that can have all existing data on the drive/card erased.

Insert a USB flash drive or SD card into your computer and follow the instructions below:

Chrome Device Instructions
Create a recovery flash drive by using the Image Burner. The tool may not be available in all languages. When recovering the Chromebook, make sure to create the recovery flash drive on the same model.

Type chrome://imageburner into the omnibox (browser's address bar)

Run the tool and follow the instructions that appear on your screen.

Windows Instructions
Create a recovery flash drive by using the Recovery Tool. The tool may not be available in all languages.

After recover the Chromebook, users must format the USB flash drive or SD card using the Recovery Tool. If the USB flash drive or SD card not formatted, it is not able to use all the storage space on the external device. Additionally, the USB flash drive or SD card may not be recognizable by Windows.

Mac Instructions
Create a recovery flash drive by using the Recovery Tool. The tool may not be available in all languages.

After the process is complete, you might see an alert saying your USB drive or SD card is unreadable. If this fails, try removing and reinserting your USB drive or SD card. Your USB drive or SD card should now be ready to use for recovery.

Linux Instructions
Create a recovery flash drive by using the Recovery Tool. The tool may not be available in all languages.

Modify the script permissions to allow execution with the following command: $ sudo chmod 755 linux_recovery.sh

Run the script with root privileges with the following command: $ sudo bash linux_recovery.sh

Follow the prompts from the tool to complete building the operating system image.

Reinstall the Chrome operating system

Start the Chromebook.

When the "Chrome OS is missing or damaged" screen appears, insert the USB flash drive or SD card had been created into the USB port or SD card slot on the Chrome device.

Wait for the Chromebook to boot up from the flash drive.

Follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

On successful installation of the Chrome operating system, users will be prompted to remove the USB flash drive or SD card.

Remove the USB flash drive or SD card when prompted, and the Chromebook will automatically restart.

Users should now be able to start the Chromebook as normal. Because the data stored on the Chromebook has been cleared, users need to go through the initial setup again. Make sure to sign in with the primary Google Account, because this account will be set as the owner account.